


perception

by startracings



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles
Genre: Gen, Xenoblade Fanworks Exchange, and talking more would help a lot of their problems, like this imaginary one, these two are good friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-31
Updated: 2018-05-31
Packaged: 2019-05-16 08:35:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14807948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/startracings/pseuds/startracings
Summary: Reyn was hardly what someone would call perceptive. He worked hard, he helped his friends, he was dedicated and endearing. But rarely did people call upon him for noticing things in the world around him. He knew that and, while he was a little miffed about the whole thing, he couldn’t particularly blame them. He didn’t see very far ahead in either the literal or metaphorical sense. But there was one exception to this situation- possibly the one person who had been more narrow-minded than him when it came to things that excited him.





	perception

Reyn was hardly what someone would call perceptive. He worked hard, he helped his friends, he was dedicated and endearing. But rarely did people call upon him for noticing things in the world around him. He knew that and, while he was a little miffed about the whole thing, he couldn’t particularly blame them. He didn’t see very far ahead in either the literal or metaphorical sense. But there was one exception to this situation- possibly the one person who had been more narrow-minded than him when it came to things that excited him.

Shulk had the ability now to see the whole future if he wanted- or at least blips of it. It always seemed to disorient him, so Reyn tried not to push it, but honestly you’d think it would have opened his eyes a bit more to what was going on around him. Reyn had long ago accepted that he had one priority in his life and that was defending his friends- in particular, the introverted lab assistant had always taken priority. Bionis knew Fiora could handle herself, after all. Such had always been their dynamic. Reyn kept the area safe so Shulk could do whatever it was that Shulk had to do.

But would it kill people to notice that once in a while?

It wasn’t often that Reyn found himself in this kind of mood- a mood where the sourest of senses took him and he found himself irate at anything that crossed his path. He put his all into so much of what he did and found himself completely without any appreciation. A guy could only take so much of that, you know? But here he was, doing it more all the same. 

Shulk had gotten it into his head to go back to Valak for something that had caught his eye. “It’s a surprise!” was all the response Reyn had received when he pressed the matter. The others were willing to indulge him. Reyn had no real choice but to go along- not that he would have stayed behind as it was. Shulk needed someone to watch his back, and that was always Reyn’s place.

This was what he kept telling himself the deeper into the cold they went. This was what he did, this was what he had to do, he did this for his friend. The breaking point came when said friend nearly buried himself in rocks hauling out one particular hunk of ore- only Reyn’s added strength got the piece loose in time to not find themselves under several feet of rubble. His temper had worn too thin, and combined with that moment of palpable fear, it was enough to bring him to shouting.

“For the love of- Shulk! Did you even see what just happened? Would you just look around yourself once? Just once! Before you rush in and do something so reckless!” His voice only continued to rise, sounding gargantuan in the now much smaller cavern. “There isn’t always going to be someone there to haul you out before things go bad. I’m not always going to be able to catch up to you! Just please, for once, keep your own eyes open and give some of us an easier time!” Even he knew he had overstepped a line based on the looks the others gave him- but at this point, he was a bit beyond caring and stormed off to figure out what else to do with his time until his temper subsided.

It took a while to let his nerves cool off. Understandably, they had him in the back of their loose formation. He was more than happy to let that be the case. They didn’t have long to travel anyway, a nearby cave would serve them nicely. Reyn settled himself far off from the others- he was content to take the first watch, and second if he really needed to let off that steam. But it wasn’t just anger anymore. It wasn’t just that snapping rage that had filled him- he had a hard time articulating the cold that always settled in his gut when this happened.

He wasn’t terribly good at admitting his own fear.

As the night wore on and the others moved to sleep ( Dunban assuring Reyn that he was more than ready to take his own turn once he was through ) Reyn noticed that there was still some kind of sound in the cavern. He turned to see Shulk working away at the ore that had so very nearly caused a disaster. It took a solid moment for Reyn to quell his initial irritation. If he had gone to the trouble of getting it, he should at least use it. It made sense. But it was still a frustrating thing to deal with- nothing could be worth what this had almost caused.

By the time Reyn woke Dunban for his shift and was off to sleep, Shulk still worked. The sounds of his tools were the only disruption in the quiet cold of Valak’s night. It was worrisome that he would work so late, but at this point, Reyn had little enough energy to care. He had let his temper carry him all the way through to exhaustion. At last, he drifted away to sleep, feeling the anger and fear give way to remorse.

A nudge at his feet woke Reyn with a small start. It was Shulk, looking worn but somewhat excited. “Hey, I want to show you something. Come on, I don’t want to wake the others.” Without waiting for a reply, he was already moving to the front of the cave, and Reyn could only follow at this point. He was too sluggish to do much else. What he found outside was something somewhat miraculous considering what few tools they actually had at their disposal out here- a new driver, or at least the beginnings of one. It took Reyn a minute to recognize the material it was made out of- and he looked up to Shulk with a start.

“This is incredible! You worked all night on this?”

Shulk nodded, though he could only barely stifle a yawn as he did. “I was hoping to make it into something a bit better once we got back to the Colony, but I thought I’d show you now. I know you always take a beating when helping out. This ore is remarkable for its defensive capabilities- they say the way the ether flows through it makes it nearly impervious to damage. And I knew you’d be able to put it to good use.” Shulk ran a hand through his hair in mild embarrassment. “I’m sorry I put you through such trouble to get it. I wasn’t thinking very clearly. I just wanted to do something to repay you for all the times you’ve helped me out- guess this just kind of added onto that, huh?”

How could he keep feeling angry after something like that? He had already resolved to apologize, but the words came much more easily now. “Think nothing of it, Shulk. I shouldn’t have lost my head like I did there. This is amazing, thank you!” He glanced up at the cold landscape around them and picked the half-done weapon himself. “I’ll be glad to help carry this back so we can see what you can do with it when we’re not in some bloody cold cave in the middle of nowhere, yeah? Then you can pay me back proper!”

Even Shulk recognized the return of Reyn’s ever-joking tone. “You bet. But first, I’m going to get some food if you don’t mind.” And with that the two turned back to the cave, as the others finally began to rouse.

Reyn wasn’t always perceptive to what was going on around him- sometimes he even missed what was right in front of his nose.

**Author's Note:**

> for the-skitty-pink from the fanworks exchange! they asked for shulk and reyn being friends! the dynamic of protector friend and seemingly-oblivious friend is one of my favorites. hope you like it!


End file.
